What is it ???
Hi all,
Can someone please help me ID whatever this object is?
The obverse (although very worn) appears to have the bust of a Morgan silver dollar dated 187? (cannot decipher the last digit) and the reverse has what appears to be an anchor at center, surrounded by an illegible text (possibly a motto of some sort?) and a twelve spoke ship's wheel.
The piece is quite heavy at 38+ grams and made of solid white metal (lead I believe?). It's size is roughly 1-5/8 inches.
What is it? Can you all please help? I'll most appreciate your time and thoughts!
12 comments
jpgharv29
OP9 months agoOk, I could be totally wrong, but I *think* it reads...
'FISHERMAN'S WHARF SEAFOOD HOUSE'
*smedley*
·9 months agoi think you're right...
check this ended ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/167782411475
agathetyche
·9 months agoThe obvious flaw of using lead for a token. Becomes unreadable very quickly. I've got a box of old lead, pewter and tin tokens and medals that are unreadable, but I can't bring myself to just throw them away.
*smedley*
·9 months agoi used to have a lead walker, but the last time i looked i couldn't find it... it should be in my Misc binder with the other counterfeits but i didn't see it...
i do have another lead item... IIRC it's a birthyear something-or-other but i'm too comfy to get up right now and see... if i think about it later i'll post pics...
agathetyche
·9 months agoI once bought a collection of circulation counterfeits i.e. meant to fool the public, not collectors. I was astonished how popular they were. Took them to a coin show and sold the whole lot in no time. Where do I find more?
*smedley*
·9 months agobeats me... i don't look for them, but if i get 'em (usually in a lot - that's where i got my Henning nickel) i usually keep 'em... that's what's frustrating me about the lead walker...
i specifically remember the lead walker because (i can't remember his userid but it ended in 44, i think) from the old coin chat reminisced about them when i posted it in the chat...
*smedley*
·9 months agoah, not a birthyear item, just a coin paperweight... i assume it's lead from the color and because it feels slippery... it lives in a little ziplock...
tobaccocardyahoo
·9 months agoBut the advantage of using lead was it was easy to cast, readily available and cheap.
One could create a mold easily using a variety of methods, and turn out small quantities in very little time.
elheron-grande
·8 months agoHola tobaccocard...! Yes, those comments are true. A long time ago, about 70 years, the Alt Heron used a piece of white pine to carve a die. This one sided item had a palm tree onnit. Heron carved the palm tree using his extra sharp Xacto knives. Then Heron melted some fishing 'sinkers' and made liquid lead. Then very carefully, using a cast iron ladle, Heron made a one sided lead item. Heron still has that item somewhere in the attic of his current residence. This item was an educational project. The melting 'pot' was an old cast iron skillet. Not the safest thing to use for melting lead...! But it was a fun project, and the last lead item Heron created...
jpgharv29
OP9 months ago@moderncoins999 yes, understandable. It appears the former owner pierced the piece for use as a pendent to suspend from a necklace.
@agathetyche thanks so much for your thoughts. My gut feeling when I first obtained this item that it was some form of 19th C. lead token, but I've had no luck making a positive ID. Then I'm thinking it could possibly be a pattern/experimental/trial piece prior to the actual finished Morgan design of the 1870s. Again, no luck ID'ing. There's too many letters (8 or 9) for the one word to say WOMAN'S, and the HOUSE word to my eye actual appears to say HOURS(?) as it ends with an S. Given the nautical theme (anchor & ship's wheel) I thought maybe US Navy or military type of object? The obverse is a mirror image of the late-1870s Morgan, but heavily worn. There's the 13 stars and I can make out the M at the end of UNUM. I've searched for many hours so far but nothing... 😞
agathetyche
·9 months agoAn advertising token? The inner ring is a very worn legend. I think I see WOMAN'S WEAR ????? HOUSE. Maybe a credit chit? Sometimes department stores, in the era before credit cards, would issue tokens to their customers that indicated their credit was good there. Neat piece, I've never seen anything like it.
moderncoins999
·9 months agoIt was A necklace